Rating: 
Summary: Great Format, easy to learn from!!!!
Review: This is a great book for begining to intermediate players to learn and improve. You don't need a chess board to follow along, which makes this a great book for using anywhere. I go through this book again about every 3 months just to refresh. My only complant is that Fischer didn't write more books on advanced topics using this teaching method [hint, hint : )]. I reccomend this book to everyone I know who wants to improve both the chess play and chess understanding. Fischer cleverly teachs checkmate patterns, basic tactics and combinations and even some postitional aspects of the game without you even realizing it. I can't say enough great things about this book. It should be noted this book is even recommended by the USCF in their 'beginer's value pack'. Good luck!
Rating: 
Summary: Know what you are getting
Review: This book teaches some basic Chess tactics - and does it rather well. It will NOT improve your knowledge of openings, strategy, or endings. If you want to become an expert on back-rank mates, this is the book for you. If you want to know why Fischer is considered one of the greatest players of all times, read his "60 Memorable Games". If you are a beginner, this book is totally inadequate preparation for his magnum opus.
Rating:
Summary: excellent teaching book on chess
Review: Very easy to read and an excellent book for beginners as well as experienced players. The book offers programmed instruction on easy chess diagrams that become more difficult as you go through the book. This book will increase your skill in playing chess. There are excellent diagrams on strategy, defense, checkmate and back rank mates. I have read some of the negative reviews for this book, but I dont agree with them. Becoming a master at anything means mastering basic concepts at very high levels. The saying that Practice makes Perfect is forever true. This certainly applies to this book. I have never met anyone who is perfect in applying the principles in this book. It does not lose its value with use, but increases it. Students should turn to this book again and again and keep working at it. It will pay off in great chess skill.
Rating:
Summary: Unusual, but excellent book for beginners
Review: This is not an ordinary beggining chess book. Fischer explains how the pieces move, but does not proceed to explain openings, tactics, or middle game strategy. Instead, he jumps immediately to the endgame. There is a great deal not covered here, and the beginner should probably pick up an additional book to fill in the gaps. That being said, the book is remarkably effective in ways that a more experienced player cannot easily appreciate. By working through the problems in this book, the beginner can get an appreciation of the capabilities of the various pieces, and an excellent understanding of the object of the game, namely the checkmate. It is true that there is more material here on back rank mates than most of us will ever need, but somehow the process of working through this material is very helpful to most people who have tried it. My wife can always tell when I have been reading this book; my game improves immediately.
Rating:
Summary: Great teaching tool
Review: A beginning level chess player, I found the methods of teaching in this book to be wonderful. Instead of long, drawn-out chapters of theory and history, Mr. Fischer gives an introductory chapter of the basics, and then uses the rest of the book to teach by example.Each page contains a chess board with pieces in various positions. Your objective is to plot the next moves to achieve the goal outlined. The next page gives you the board with the correct move complete. As you go through the exercises, you will begin to "see" the moves as well as understand the theory behind them. Although I am, by no means, a master chess player, I have already seen an improvement in the quality of my games. I would recommend this excellent book for anyone interested in learning not only how to play chess, but how to "see" it and "feel" it as well.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent endgame book
Review: Don't expect this book to make you play like Fischer. I'm not saying that it is a bad book...I am just saying that Bobby doesn't actually teach the game of chess in this book. Rather he teaches only specific moves of the endgame, namely checkmates. It is a fine book for learning and/or practicing your mating moves. I enjoyed the simple format in which there is a problem on each page that asks the reader to just draw a line on the chessboard or check off yes and no answers. It's not necessary to write out any algebraic notations in this book. However, if you are looking for a good book to grasp the game of chess as a whole, this is not the right book for you. Instead, I would recommend The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess and Irving Chernev's Logical Chess Move by Move. Nevertheless, this book is suitable to add to your chess library, just don't make it your only resource.
Rating: 
Summary: Way Way overrated!
Review: This book comes acrose as a peak in Fischer's mind on how to become a great chess player. Does not do anything but drill you on mating patterns. Dont get me wrong Fischer is one of the greatest players ever but his book is disappoiting. Great to look at just for some mating drills but thats it.
Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: One of the finest pieces of literature written for the game. Absolutely essential for beginners.
Rating:
Summary: Required reading
Review: I wish I had a nickel for all the kids I've taught to play chess using this book. This is *the* book for teaching kids with a 2nd grade reading level or above to play chess. A teacher's help is still needed to explain the concepts and how they relate to each other, but a student can do a tremendous amount of self-study with this book. I can guarantee that you will see a significant improvement in play after finishing this book.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: This book is excellent for not only the begining chess player but also those players wishing to brush up on the basics. Yes for those advanced players this is much to easy. But that isnt the focus of this book. I found it easy at times but nonetheless it forced me to focus on the basics. All players can stand that once in a while. For beginers I rate it a 5. For all others it still ranks a 3. A must buy!
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